Kendra Wilkinson

Kendra Leigh Wilkinson[1] (formerly Baskett; born June 12, 1985)[2] is an American television personality, businesswoman, glamour model, and author. She is known for being one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends and for her role on the E! reality television series The Girls Next Door, on which her life in the Playboy Mansion was documented. Although not a Playboy Playmate, she has appeared in three nude pictorials with her Girls Next Door co-stars and fellow Hefner girlfriends Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt. Her first reality series, Kendra, debuted in June 2009 and ended in November 2011.

Kendra Wilkinson
Wilkinson in October 2011
Born
Kendra Leigh Wilkinson

(1985-06-12) June 12, 1985
San Diego, California, U.S.
EducationClairemont High School
OccupationTelevision personality, businesswoman, glamour model, author
Years active2004–present
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 2009; div. 2018)
Partner(s)Hugh Hefner (2004–2008)
Children2

Early life

Born in San Diego, California,[2] Wilkinson is of English, Irish, and Ukrainian descent.[3][4] She has a younger brother named Colin. Her mother, Patti, was originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and had been a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles. Her father, Eric, was raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and Ocean City, New Jersey, before moving to San Diego at age 15. He received a degree in biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and went on to found several biotechnology companies before retiring at the age of 48. Patti and Eric married on November 5, 1983. They divorced on March 25, 1994, when Kendra was eight years old. Her grandmother, Gloria Wilkinson, died in December 2004.[4]

Wilkinson was and raised in San Diego's Clairemont neighborhood, and played softball for six years with the Clairemont Bobby Sox.[5] When she left high school, she began working as a glamour model, and also briefly worked as an administrative assistant in a dentist's office.[6]

Career

2004–09: Playboy and The Girls Next Door
Wilkinson alongside Hugh Hefner and Bridget Marquardt, 2006

Wilkinson met Hugh Hefner at his 78th birthday party in April 2004, where she was hired to be one of the "painted girls"[7] (women who are nude except for painted-on accessories). Hefner had seen a photo of her shot by Kim Riley, on a fax machine at the Playboy Mansion and wanted to know who she was. Shortly after they met, Hefner asked Wilkinson to be one of his girlfriends, and he moved her into the Playboy Mansion[8] In a 2014 interview, Wilkinson explained, "I was like, 'Hell yeah, I'm here!' I was living in this small-ass apartment with this ugly-ass bitch. I was praying for anything to get me out of there. I moved in and weeks went by and I didn't know that sex was involved. I knew nothing about Playboy, I'd just graduated high school."[9]

She was featured on the E! reality television series The Girls Next Door, which followed the lives of Hefner's then-girlfriends: Wilkinson, Holly Madison, and Bridget Marquardt. She moved out of the Playboy Mansion in 2009 after meeting her future husband, Hank Baskett,[10] and filmed her own spin-off reality show for E! called Kendra. The first season was about her living on her own and planning her wedding.[11]

Wilkinson has made several cameos on different programs such as Las Vegas and Entourage. She also appeared in Akon's music video "Smack That". While on the set of the video, Eminem poured a bottle of water on her head, though the two later reconciled.[12] In 2006, she appeared in the Playboy Special Editions Sexy 100. In 2007, she appeared in Nickelback's music video of "Rockstar", along with Madison and Marquardt. They also had a cameo role in the 2006 film Scary Movie 4.[13] Wilkinson also showed her creative side as a rapper on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar which debuted on August 30, 2007. She rapped to Ludacris' "Fantasy", in response to the question asked by the show's host, "Can Kendra move her mouth as fast as she moves her booty?"[14] She went on to take second place, losing to Shar Jackson.

Wilkinson's stated career goal is to become a massage therapist or sports announcer.[15] In December 2005, she became a regular blogger columnist at the website of the Philadelphia Eagles,[16] a team for which her mother had been a professional cheerleader,[17] and for which her husband played professionally.[18]

2009–11: Kendra, marriage, and motherhood
Kendra Wilkinson

On August 13, 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported that Wilkinson was Olive Garden's "Biggest Celebrity Fan". Wilkinson has described Olive Garden's cuisine as "my soul food." The newspaper emphasized that her repeated enthusiastic public endorsements of the family restaurant were genuine, personal and were not tied to any payment from Olive Garden. In fact, the company was reported as viewing Wilkinson's endorsements with "mixed feelings," and something on which it was reluctant to comment since the restaurant emphasizes its family-friendly nature.[19]

On September 22, 2008, the International Business Times reported that Wilkinson was engaged to then-Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett.[20] Wilkinson initially denied this, but she later admitted she was in a relationship with V on October 7, 2008 in an interview with Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately.[21][22] On November 6, 2008, E! Online announced Wilkinson and Baskett were engaged, after he proposed the previous Saturday at the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.[23][24]

Wilkinson married Baskett on June 27, 2009, at the Playboy Mansion.[25] Although it was initially announced that Hugh Hefner would give the bride away, Kendra's brother Colin walked her down the aisle. Wilkinson's family was in attendance, as well as former Girls Next Door stars Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt.[26][27][28] On the wedding episode of Kendra, she said that she would be taking Baskett's last name. They lived in Calabasas, California.[29]

On June 11, 2009, Wilkinson announced her first pregnancy.[30] The baby, a boy, was born in December 2009.[31][32] Wilkinson's friends hosted a baby shower on September 9, 2009. She told E! News that Hefner will be the child's godfather.[33] but later denied this.[34]

In an interview after the birth of their son, Wilkinson revealed she had suffered post-partum depression. "After giving birth, I never brushed my hair, my teeth, or took a shower," said Wilkinson. "I looked in the mirror one day and was really depressed." After the birth she weighed 140 pounds, according to a E! interview. She attributed her depression to moving to Indianapolis where her husband played so soon after the birth and feeling isolated.[35]

Wilkinson starred in a spinoff of Girls Next Door, titled Kendra, which focused on her life after leaving the Playboy Mansion and getting engaged. The Girls Next Door executive producer Kevin Burns serves in the same capacity on the series. Kendra is produced by Prometheus Entertainment, Fox TV Studios, and Alta Loma Entertainment.[36] Kendra premiered on June 7, 2009, and had record breaking numbers for E! with 2.6 million viewers, and was the highest-rated reality debut for the network since 2002's premiere of The Anna Nicole Show.[37] The show's 33rd and final episode, the third-season finale, debuted on January 9, 2011. The show was not renewed for a fourth season.

In 2007, Wilkinson appeared on an episode of WWE Raw with Bridget Marquardt.

In 2010 she published a memoir, Sliding Into Home.[38]

Wilkinson was a contestant in the twelfth season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Louis Van Amstel. She was eliminated in the seventh week, on May 3, 2011. Kendra launched her personal website KendraWilkinson.com in November 2011. The digital community offers space for Kendra to answer all her fans questions, and connect with each other while talking about family, friends and laughter.[39]

On March 17, 2010, Wilkinson's E! True Hollywood Story premiered on E!. During the hour-long episode, she discussed her rocky road to stardom. In May 2010, a video recording of Wilkinson having sex with a then-unidentified man surfaced. The recording was acquired by Vivid Entertainment, who planned to distribute the tape as Kendra Exposed. Wilkinson contested the release and threatened to sue should it be released.[40][41] RadarOnline reported that in 2008, Wilkinson herself set up a company Home Run Productions LLC, through which she made several attempts to sell sex tapes.[42][43] Sources have reported that Wilkinson was paid $680,000 for the film that was made by her high school boyfriend Justin Frye when she was 18.[44][45]

2012–present: Kendra on Top and divorce

After parting ways with E! in 2011, Wilkinson and her family started a new reality show on WE tv, Kendra on Top. It premiered June 5, 2012.[46] The show ended in 2017.[47]

On February 26, 2013, Wilkinson appeared on an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap with Kate Gosselin. On April 20, 2013, she was involved with another vehicle in an automobile accident on a California freeway. Her injuries included having a minor hemorrhagic stroke.[48] On October 31, 2013, Wilkinson announced that she was pregnant with her second child.[49] She gave birth to a daughter in May 2014.[50]

In November 2014, Wilkinson was a contestant on the 14th series of the British reality TV series hit I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, finishing in sixth place.[51]

On April 28, 2017, Baskett and her mother were one of the families featured on the WE reality show Marriage Bootcamp: Family Edition.

On April 3, 2018, she filed for divorce from Hank Baskett, seeking restoration of her maiden name in the process.[52][53]

References
  1. "Lauren Johnston. "'Girls Next Door' star Kendra Wilkinson says brother will give away – not Hugh Hefner"". New York Daily News. February 27, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  2. "Kendra Wilkinson". People.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  3. "Kendra Wilkinson to Dress Baby Hank as Leprechaun for St. Pat's", People, March 16, 2010.
  4. "Kendra Wilkinson to pen memoir", Thaindian News, July 24, 2009.
  5. League Member information, Clairemont Girls Fastpitch Softball League
  6. "Kendra Wilkinson – Biography". Biggeststars.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  7. "Kendra Wilkinson: How I became Hef's girlfriend". Today.com. July 6, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  8. "Playmate Kendra Wilkinson is Engaged to Hank Wilkinson". Stars Journal. November 7, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  9. Taylor, Derrick Bryson (November 25, 2014). "Kendra: I didn't know I had to have sex with Hef". New York Post.
  10. "Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett Share Baby Alijah Mary's First Family Photo!". June 4, 2014. Archived from the original on June 30, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  11. "Kendra Baskett Getting Her Own Show". US Magazine. February 3, 2009. p. 1. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  12. "Eminem is a Meanie Yo!". TMZ.com. August 30, 2006. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  13. "Kendra Wilkinson Biography". Perfect People. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  14. "Rock Reality Show Recap: Twista Schools the Novices on "Celebrity Rap Superstar"". Rolling Stone. October 5, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  15. "Kendra Wilkinson Bio – LoveToKnow Reality TV". Reality-tv.lovetoknow.com. June 12, 1985. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  16. "Eagles Sign Up Playboy Bunny As Blogger – Sports News Story – WCAU | Philadelphia". Nbc10.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  17. "Philadelphia Will Do » Eagles find way to keep fans interested in season". Willdo.philadelphiaweekly.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  18. "Hank Baskett's NFL biography". Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  19. Dana, Rebecca (August 13, 2008). "When You're Here, You're Family – But What About a Playboy Model". ''Wall Street Journal'' - Online.wsj.com. p. A1. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
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  26. Gray, Mark (December 23, 2008). "Kendra Wilkinson Sets Wedding Date with Her 'Perfect Match'". People. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  27. Gray, Mark (June 28, 2009). "Kendra Wilkinson Was a 'Princess' Bride, Says Holly Madison – Weddings, Hank Baskett, Holly Madison, Kendra Wilkinson". People. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  28. "Week In Photos: June 22-28, 2009". Omg.yahoo.com. March 11, 2011. Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
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  30. Malkin, Marc (June 9, 2009). "Kendra and Hank: We're Having a Baby!". E! Online. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  31. Finn, Natalie (December 11, 2009). "Kendra and Hank Welcome a Baby Boy!". E! News. Archived from the original on December 26, 2009.
  32. "Kendra Wilkinson Shares New Pic of Baby Hank!". Us Weekly. January 20, 2010. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016.
  33. "Hugh Hefner will be Kendra Wilkinson's baby's godfather". Blog.taragana.com. June 11, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  34. "KENDRA CLEARS UP HUGH HEFNER GODFATHER RUMOR". OK!. December 23, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
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  47. Stone, Natalie. "Kendra Wilkinson Baskett Is Taken Aback When Her Son Says 'I Feel Like I Didn't Have a Mom' – Find Out Why!", Yahoo!, August 4, 2017
  48. Kendra Wilkinson had 'minor stroke' during crash Kendra Wilkinson had 'minor stroke' during crash
  49. Wiseman, Aly (October 31, 2013). "Kendra Wilkinson Announces Her Pregnancy With A Sponsored Tweet". Business Insider.
  50. "Kendra Wilkinson's Baby Name -- Our Daughter's A Goddess". TMZ.com. May 21, 2014. Citing "Certificate of Live Birth" (PDF). State of California. May 19, 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 18, 2015.
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  52. https://people.com/tv/kendra-wilkinson-signed-last-divorce-paper-hank-baskett/
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